Now that Tom Price has been confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, it’s time to examine what he has in store for Medicare. He backs “premium support,” which is the GOP’s backdoor plan to privatize the system.
via FORBES.
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However, some conservatives in Congress insist that relief for programs like the Older Americans Act be paid for by cutting Medicare and Medicaid. This budgetary sleight-of-hand could trade partial relief for some seniors’ programs by cutting other essential health security programs like Medicare and Medicaid, thus further eroding the tenuous economic situation many older Americans face.
Max Richtman via Huffington Post.
The selection of Georgia Congressman Tom Price as Health and Human Services Secretary offers the clearest signal yet that Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan are perfectly aligned, and ready to make Medicare phase-out the signature proposal of his presidency.
via The Nation.
Related Reading:
Congress is targeting the health and financial well-being of America’s seniors by making yet another attempt to privatize Medicare. Today the House Budget Committee is marking up the GOP’s FY 2018 budget resolution, which includes Speaker Paul Ryan’s “Medicare premium support” scheme – an innocuous name for turning time-tested senior health care coverage into “Coupon-Care.”
via Entitled to Know.
What does this have to do with Social Security or Medicare? The answer should be “nothing” but thanks to legislation now being debated in the Senate, the real answer is “everything.” Once again, GOP leaders want to use Social Security and/or Medicare benefits to pay for something entirely unrelated to the income and health security of millions of Americans.
via Entitled to Know.
UPDATE (as of 7/23/2015 at 11:35am):
Seniors Applaud Senate Reversal on Plan to Cut Social Security to Pay for Highway Bill.
Majorities across parties oppose eliminating the tax deduction for high medical expenses, which Congress is debating as part of tax reform.
via Kaiser Health News.
Related Reading:
Trump/GOP Tax Bill Would Trigger Devastating Cut to Medicare.
- Of course, the entire tax scheme – which is being rushed through Congress without regular order – is harmful to seniors’ health and retirement security either way.
- It eliminates the deduction for medical expenses like chronic and long-term care and balloons the deficit so that future Congresses will feel justified in raiding Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to make up the difference.
via Twitter.
GOP Tax Cuts Could Cost Seniors in the Long Run
- The nonprofit Tax Policy Center estimates that the GOP tax plan will reduce federal revenues by a net $2.4 trillion in the next 10 years. As the deficit grows, Congress will look to cut spending. Republicans have already called for deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and would no doubt come after those programs looking for massive savings.
- Seniors’ earned benefits could be used as piggy banks to pay for reckless tax cuts that largely benefit the wealthy.
Do older Americans want bigger Social Security checks and expanded Medicare coverage – or do they want their benefits cut?
That is the fundamental question for seniors and their families with less than two weeks until the mid-term elections. The majority party in Congress has proposed time and again to slash Social Security and Medicare benefits under the guise of ‘entitlement reform.’ Leader Mitch McConnell just attributed the swelling federal debt to retirees’ earned benefits – when the real culprit was the 2017 tax package that mainly benefited the wealthy and big corporations.
The majority party’s 2018 and 2019 budgets would have taken a $500 billion bite out of Medicare and $64 billion from Social Security. And make no mistake – conservative tropes like raising the eligibility age, imposing a more meager inflation formula, and means testing are benefit cuts.
Read more from our op-ed by clicking here.
BREAKING:
For example, the document seeks a commitment from the next speaker to tie any increase in the debt ceiling to cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
via Think Progress.
Related Reading:
The House GOP has its eyes on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Let’s not forget about the first day of the 114th Congress.
Investment in home and community-based care is popular and must be included in #infrastructure. Now it’s up to Congress to get it done. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/opinion/elder-care-congress.html #HCBS @nytimes